Meet Again
by rbooo
Summary: 'I'll miss you' was the last thing she said to him. That was two months ago. It took a lot to realize what was missing; Vincent never really did know what he had until he nearly lost it forever. Yuffentine & others
1. A Princess Lost

**Meet Again  
><strong>I'll miss you was the last thing she said to him. That was two months ago. It took a lot to realize what was missing; Vincent never really did know what he had until he nearly lost it forever.

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><p>Disclaimer: I don't own Final Fantasy! But I wish I did, because there would be a whole new sequel with a whole lotta Yuffentine…<p>

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><p><strong>Chapter 1: A Princess Lost<strong>

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><p><em>Don't worry, Vinnie!<em>

That's what she had said, regardless of how very not amused he was at the nickname and _not _worried he appeared.

_I'll be fine. I know you're going to miss me and all, but I'll be back soon._

Not that he was going to even miss her and only remotely cared when she would be back, so long as she came back in once piece.

_Well, I'll be off now… make sure you take care of the house, okay? No sexy parties while I'm gone_!

Because a sexy party was exactly what he was going to do, and she was far messier than he was even if he _tried _to live like a pig.

_Pretty crappy timing on Reeve, hey? I was going to cook dinner for us tonight._

How convenient, seeing as how she was the only person he knew that could burn water and explode microwavable hot dogs.

_I was gonna paint your gun pink and then try to seduce you as well, but I guess that will have to wait._

Finally she witnessed a reaction from him, which was none too happy. The disapproval on his face made her melodic laugh echo through their shared apartment.

_I was just kidding, but at least I got a reaction out of the vampire._

He rolled his eyes at this.

_I'll miss you!_

That was the last thing she said before she swiftly wrapped her arms around his torso, nuzzling her head into his chest. While he made no move to return the gesture, she quickly pulled back. With one last smile, her eyes projecting her fleeting beauty, and she bounded out the door, travel bag on her side and shuriken hoisted on her back.

_I'll miss you._

That was two months ago.

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><p>Another morning alone.<p>

He would have scolded himself for complaining in the slightest about being 'alone'. It was here that Yuffie would have made some remark about him sleeping in a coffin for thirty years anyway.

But she wasn't here, was she?

He wasn't quite sure how long he had laid there. Vincent had never been lazy, but lately he found himself waking at the crack of dawn without the motivation to hop into the shower until it hit at least eight o'clock. When gentle vibrations derived from his slim black phone, Vincent's hand shot out and flipped it open, pressing it to his ear.

"Vincent here." he informed, his voice still deep and thick from sleep.

His boss and head of the World Regenesis Organization, Reeve, answered back. "Sorry Vincent, did I wake you up?"

"No." he lifted himself off the beg and swung his legs over the side. "Did you hear from Yuffie?"

Vincent expected Reeve to sigh as per usual when he asked this question, becoming deeper and the pause that followed longer as each day she was gone passed by. When he didn't, Vincent straightened his back as Reeve began to speak.

"Cloud found a lead," he replied. "Everyone's here at headquarters. Meet us in the top floor board room."

"The Turks? Wutai?" Vincent asked as he hurriedly got up from his spot, gathering some clothing from the closet.

"Lord Godo has instructed us to come up with a plan and send for as many ninjas as we need, and the Turks are coming as we speak."

"I'm on my way." Vincent snapped his phone shut and started for the washroom, all effects of sleep wearing off as adrenaline pumped through his body. By everyone, Reeve was referring to each AVALANCHE member - Cid, head of the air force; Barret, head of energy development; Cloud, head of the ground force, and Tifa, general of the ground force.

The same thoughts invaded Vincent's mind as he stepped into the shower, eagerly and impatiently getting ready to leave.

Two months ago, Reeve had sent Yuffie out on a mission. When she discussed it with Vincent, the easy way she spoke of the mission assured Vincent that it was nothing he had to worry about; gather intelligence about an underground team of scientists and military personnel from the old Shin-ra group and Deepground that had seemed to arise out of nowhere. Despite her constant bragging of being the world's greatest ninja, it was pretty much close to true. However, when her check-ins with Reeve were few and far between, the whole team had become worried. The whole team, as in AVALANCHE, that Reeve had successfully hired to work for the WRO.

Her last check-in spoke only of promise: _"The scientists are pretty smart,"_ she had said through radio one day. Each member of AVALANCHE was gathered in the board room, sitting at a circular table with the radio in Reeve's hands. _"They seem to be designing something big, but no matter what I do, I can never find any paperwork or overhead anyone speaking to each other about anything. Everyone here has a sick sense of humour but barely speak to each other when it comes to business. Everyday there's a hand full of scientists designing weapons for their military unit, but there are a few biwigs that are doing… something…"_

Yuffie sighed, her second week undercover and exhausted. _"I know I'm due to return next week, but I just need to figure out more. Maybe you should send one of the Turks or a WRO soldier in to assist me. Whatever these scientists are doing, it feels wrong. Eerie. They seem to be developing energy of some sort, and we'd probably need Barret here to check for the energy readings, but they're way more powerful than mako or electricity or hydro power. It makes me wonder what they need the energy for."_

"Very well, Yuffie," Reeve responded through the radio in hushed tones. "We'll send in a soldier and I'll call you when and where to meet them. You and the soldier are still due to come back on the assigned date, is that clear?"

_"Yes, Dad."_

Reeve chuckled.

_"I bet Vincent isn't even there."_ Yuffie proceeded to rant. "_You guys all better tell him when I get back I'm gonna kick his ass for letting his phone go to voicemail all the time! Oh, and if he isn't at my welcome back party - cough wink nudge -"_ she said everything quickly. _"You better REALLY let him know I'm gonna whup his sorry vampire ass!"_

"I'm right here, Yuffie."

_"Oh."_

And everyone began to laugh.

But laughs and smiles were the last thing on anyone's mind when a week and a half later, the soldier that had been assigned to assist Yuffie came back in a body bag, courtesy of whatever organization Yuffie had been checking out.

That's when Yuffie stopped answering her phone - then within a day, her signal had disappeared. She didn't respond to any messages she received through the emergency headset that was usually stuck in her ear.

That was a month ago.

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><p>With his trusty red cloak floating at his feet, it appeared as if Vincent truly was flying up the stairs into WRO headquarters. The elevator could not move fast enough against gravity for Vincent, but as it finally arrived on floor 31, he stepped out and composed himself. Striding into the board room, he noticed everyone was wrapped in a worried silence. Everyone was there, including Nanaki, who sat on the floor in the corner, his head resting in his paws.<p>

Everyone turned their heads up to Vincent as he pushed open the door, an array of emotions on each person's face.

"Well fuck, that was quick." Cid broke the silence.

Vincent nodded. "Hello to you as well, Cid."

Reeve, who had been sitting at the head of the table, swivelled in his chair, turning his attention away from the lush surroundings that had become Edge and to the table. Vincent swiftly walked over to his seat, two down and on the left from Reeve.

A moment after Vincent sat down, the door opened again and in walked Rufus, the Turks closely behind him. Everyone nodded in greeting but said nothing as the former president sat down in the seat next to Reeve and across from Cloud, whilst the Turks hovered around the table.

"Talk about _tension." _Reno finally whispered, earning a chuckle from most around the table. Smirking proudly, he shoved his hands in his pocket and turned his attention to Reeve.

"Now that everyone's here, we can get down to business." Reeve announced, clasping his hands together. Yuffie's disappearance had definitely taken a toll on the man, as well as everyone else, marked by the dark circles under his eyes.

Cloud, on the right of Reeve, spoke up. "As you all know, when Yuffie went to infiltrate and gather intelligence on this… organization, now dubbed Shin-ground," someone in the room chuckled at this. "we couldn't locate their base after we lost contact with them. But the locals, they heard stuff. Shin-ground is almost… nomadic. They never stay in one place for too long."

Cid huffed. "They don't stay in one fuckin' place for the same amount of time either. They'll leave their fucking remains after two days, ten days, twenty days…"

"The guys in intelligence said there's no possible pattern of how many days they choose to stay." Cloud agreed. "But the remains of this last base - just outside of Gongaga - were destroyed last night and I watched it with my own eyes."

Tifa gasped, her hand coming up to cover her mouth. "But how did you even see them? They've been known to destroy a base and come up with a new one without anyone seeing, and barely anyone hearing." Her wine eyes widened with worry, still thinking about the ninja.

Cloud shook his head. "I guess they just weren't careful this time. I overheard a couple of kids - they looked like rookies - talking about how they can finally head to headquarters."

Nanaki shook his head slightly, still resting in his powerful paws. "Yuffie herself said the base is nomadic as well, since it was she would had been following them. How can there be a mother base?"

Clearing his throat, Reeve said, "Yeah, but she also noted that no one in the base ever speaks about anything business related, merely sticking to jokes. And when they sent back the body bag with our soldier in it... right to our doorstep... It was as if they…" Reeve swallowed.

"It was if they knew the WRO was watching them." Vincent muttered darkly. "They knew Yuffie was watching them."

Silence fell over the room again.

"That's not all." Cloud said just above a whisper. "I think… I think I saw Yuffie."

At once, the room erupted into yelling and arguments.

The screams and yelling - mostly from Cid, Barret and Reno - were barely heard by the gunslinger, who sat still in his chair. Stiffening, he unconsciously reached out to scratch the table with his claw, crimson eyes glazing over slightly.

"Well what in the hell are we waiting for?" Barret yelled over everyone elses cries, rising from his chair slightly. "Why aren't we going in after her?"

Reeve regained his composure and sat up straight, raising his chin. "Cloud, what do you mean by you think you saw her…"

"What I mean, is I think I saw her." Cloud said simply. "There was a bag over her head… and she was naked. Her arms and hands were bound tightly behind her, and her feet were shackled…." he looked sick to his stomach and the sadness of the sight pressed into his chest. "Yet they made her walk without any shoes through the dirt and into an armoured car."

Silenced enveloped the room, until a loud smash came from Vincent's side of the table, where he had crushed part of the table with his human fist, eyes wild with anger.

"Vince…" Tifa reached over and placed a hand on his forearm. His eyes snapped to her in apology and Reeve cleared his throat.

"We need a plan first," he said slowly. Then he looked over to the blonde next to him. "Take it away, General."

Mako-blue eyes looked up from the spot he had been staring at for the last few minutes. Thinking about Yuffie in danger or hurt twisted his insides up like a ribbon. "Well, I think I speak for everyone in this room when I say this mission won't call for extraneous help." Cloud eyed the Turks.

"Easy, Strife," Rufus warned. "Reeve?"

Reeve furrowed his brow. "I don't want anyone to throw a tantrum," he said. "and it's not official yet. But the Turks are a division of the WRO."

"TURKS?" Cid sputtered out. "Since when did we need to do any dirty work that involved Turks, anyway?" he cursed.

Tseng raised his chin indignantly. "You would be surprised, Highwind."

Cloud slapped his hand on the table gently, earning everyone's attention back. "That's not the point. I meant WRO soldiers, anyway. I also don't see an immediate need for the ninja in Wutai, however we will inform Godo of our plans."

Childishly, Reno made a stinky face at Cid, who flipped the bird at him in response.

"Yuffie has been gone for two months already!" Cloud said, exasperated.

Tifa narrowed her eyes in thought. "So what should we do? Infiltrate their new base, guns blazing, or do this as secretly as possible?"

Barret grabbed his gun-arm, no doubt about to go off about his gun blazing. Vincent put a hand on the larger man's arm, pushing him back down in his seat.

"We know not of their intentions for Yuffie or their power." Vincent spoke logically. "What we do know is that they have Yuffie prisoner and I - we - need her back. We should do this as swiftly and secretly as possible."

Everyone murmured in agreement, and finally began formulating a plan.

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><p>When Vincent arrived home, it was dark. Opening the door to the empty apartment, he flicked the lights on and noticed a dirty dish still in the sink. <em>Make sure you take care of the house, okay? <em>

Never had Vincent felt this worried over anything, the way he felt this month. Even as they proceeded into battle with Bahamut SIN, he didn't feel nervous.

Why was he getting such a bad feeling about this… about Yuffie… about everything?

He glanced at the clock, the numbers 5:52 burning a red hole in the black clock. He had one hour to gather his things, prepare for battle and meet up with everyone at the Seventh Heaven.

Sitting down on the bed, Vincent's eyes glanced to the phone he had thrown onto his bed. He picked it up and dialled, ignoring the insistent ringing of a home phone filling the apartment.

_Hi there! You have reached the sexy ninja Yuffie and the vamp, Vinnie-boy! I'm probably busy dying his cloak baby blue, and he's probably sitting on his bed being emo-master, so leave a message, kay? We'll get back to you one day!_

The message she recorded on the answering machine ended with her cackling, and Vincent suddenly realized just as she said two months ago - he missed her presence. Her voice filled his ears and the apartment alike, and with a new determination that flickered in his scarlet eyes, he prepared for what would be the longest night of his life. He would get the princess back no matter what it took.

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><p>I guess there's a lot that happened in this chapter. I thought about separating the beginning to make a prologue, but I didn't think I'd garner much interest. I hope you enjoyed it, please leave me some love! (REVIEW!) Please :]<p>

Oh, and trust me, it's gonna get iiiiinteeeresting…


	2. Infiltrating Shinground

**Meet Again**

I'll miss you was the last thing she said to him. That was two months ago. It took a lot to realize what was missing; Vincent never really did know what he had until he nearly lost it forever.

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><p>Disclaimer: I don't own Final Fantasy! But I wish I did, because there would be a whole new sequel with a whole lotta Yuffentine…<p>

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><p><strong>AN:** Hello, hello! Sorry for the super long update. School has been hectic. Also, although this story is set after DoC, I decided that Chaos would not be out of Vincent's body, but Vincent is no longer immortal, so if he died, Chaos and the other demons would also die. Also, I did a bit of this chapter from Vincent's POV. It will seem kind of pointless but I wanted to get used to switching POV sometimes because later in the story I will need it. Anyway, hope you guys enjoy this chapter.

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><p><strong>Chapter 2: Infiltrating Shinground<strong>

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><p>As Vincent trudged through the snow, he wondered how the thought hadn't crossed his mind earlier - a mission in thick snow would be difficult. It was winter in Edge, but courtesy of information provided by Cloud, they were headed even more northern than Icicle Inn.<p>

It was kind of ironic, that in a mini crisis such as this, they would be brought up just short of the Northern Crater.

Images of Sephiroth flashed through his mind as he headed to the Seventh Heaven. A deep hatred burned though his chest, seeing the silver-haired soldier. Hatred for the man who had been his former beloved and enemy's son. Hatred for Hojo, and all the damage he had done. Hatred for the man who he should have met when Vincent was at least in his 60s. Vincent, who should have been grey-haired and feeble. But as he always did when thoughts such as this overwhelmed him, he shook them away. Over the years he had learned to care again - he had developed companionship with Avalanche. There was no use yearning for a past he would never have back. He wasn't even so sure he wanted the past back, anyhow.

**You think about the same thing over and over again, Host.**

Chaos, what do you want?_ Vincent asked in annoyance********. ********_

**I wanted to let you know, if things go wrong, I will assist you.**

_And why would I let you loose? Why would I trust you?_

**The other demons and I were discussing how depressed we were feeling.**

_You are demons._

**That's besides the point. You are depressed without that Wutaian girl around. And thus, we have been feeling down in the dumps!**

_Where have you adopted speech such as 'down in the dumps?'_

**You feel overwhelming care for this girl… as do we. Trust us in this sense, Host. You will need us.**

Vincent chose not to reply as he approached the door to the Seventh Heaven. As he pushed the door open, the familiar sound of bells shook and he stepped into the warm bar. At the bar, Cid and Barret sat, acknowledging him with a wave and nod of the head. Cloud and Tifa were nowhere to be seen, and in the corner, Nanaki lay on the ground with the Turks sitting on the couches surrounding a fireplace, speaking quietly to each other. Near the fireplace, Vincent noticed he start of a Christmas tree that hadn't been completed.

Was Christmas that near? The months sure had gone by agonizingly slow without Yuffie. She had been called for the mission just a day after his birthday, and she had missed her own birthday. On that day, November 20th, he had spent the day at home, really doing nothing, Yuffie's birthday present sitting on his dresser. He looked over to a calendar on the wall, which for the longest time had been there. Tifa faithfully crossed out one of the squares as their day ended, and if she hadn't neglected to do so since then, it was December 14. Just 11 days until Christmas… and Yuffie still wasn't home.

Vincent was jolted out of his thoughts when Tifa stepped out of the kitchen, cocking her head at Vincent.

"Did you just arrive?" she asked wearily. Her eyes seemed slightly red and puffy, as if she had been crying. Cloud emerged from the kitchen right behind Tifa, his blonde hair as wild as his eyes.

Vincent nodded. "Is everything okay?"

Tifa nodded. "Just fine. We're just waiting on Reeve and we can head out to the Shera."

"It's weird, isn't it?" Cid spoke up, turning around on his chair to face everyone. Everyone turned to look at the chain-smoker curiously - he hadn't said a word to anyone since he had arrived over half an hour ago. "Yuffie missed her birthday and now the bar is filled with all this failed holiday cheer, and I bet you anything if she was here with us, she'd be flying all over the fucking place decorating and singing that damned snowman song and making us all decorate with her and planning a stupid fucking secret Santa and then she would trick me into going outside with her so she could throw those damned snowballs at me." he said with a deep breath.

Tifa held her arms across her chest. Looking down, her wine-coloured eyes watered slightly with a distant look in her eyes. "You miss her, don't you Cid?"

Cid huffed. "I don't miss that stupid brat!" he retorted. "And the holidays are bullshit too! I'm just sayin' she would have made it better somehow." he turned away when he realized what he said.

Barret shoved his arm. "You totally miss her, you stubborn old sunofa-"

"Then we'd better get her back tonight, right guys?" Mouth curving into a smile, Tifa clenched her fist. "We all want her back."

Everyone murmured their agreement. Rufus stood from his post in the corner, his signature white trench coat fluttering behind him. "I'd like to thank everyone here for risking their lives. Good luck on this mission."

Cid rolled his eyes. There was the sound of familiar jingling as the door was pushed open by Reeve, melting snow caught in his beard.

"Sorry I'm late, everyone." he apologised, entering the bar and settling behind the counter next to Tifa. The inhabitants of the bar all wandered to the bar area, ready for their assignments.

"I'm sure we're all anxious enough, so we might as well get this mission underway." he sighed slightly, pulling out numerous items from a bag he had brought.

"You're telling me." Barret huffed.

Reeve smiled with a hope in his eyes that no one had seen since Yuffie disappeared. "Now, these are your communication devices…."

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><p><strong>Vincent POV<strong>

I stared out the large window on the bridge of the Shera. At the helm, Cid steered through the snowstorm that engulfed the entire northern continent.

"We're nearly there," Cid grunted as he struggled to keep the Shera upright in the storm.

A pang of nervousness finally hit me as he started descending to the ground. I didn't have much time to think about it before Reeve spoke up gravely.

"Good luck." was all he said. He, along with Elena, Rufus, Tseng, and Barret, started towards the conference room, where they would be supporting us through communications. Once we were all safely off the Shera, they would fly towards the headquartered but quite a few thousand feet higher off the ground. From there, with technology courtesy of the WRO, the equipped Shera would do a full laser scan of the base and they would be able to assist us from the airship. In short, they would be our 'eyes in the sky'. Barret turned away grudgingly. I felt some sympathy for him - he cared for Yuffie quite a bit and wanted to be in the action with the rest of us. It didn't take us long to convince him that he, with his robotic arm that sprayed bullets, would not be useful in narrow corridors where the bullets would ricochet and probably kill us AND the enemies.

Cid was exchanging words with one of his crew before he put his communication ear piece in his ear, walking over to the rest of us, spear in hand.

"We have a ways to walk still," Cloud said, examining a detailed map of the northern continent. "Even with the storm, dropping in right on top of them wouldn't have been the smartest plan. Everyone stick with your partners." he instructed, moving closer to Tifa.

The team nodded and we walked towards the bridge. I could only hope that everyone was prepared, ready to go in and do whatever it takes to bring Yuffie back. If today, I could not save her… if she wouldn't finally be in my presence tonight at our dinner table, I do not know what I would do…

The bridge opened and Cloud jumped first, disappearing from sight into the white wasteland. Tifa followed a second later, and soon she was gone from view as well. I took off after her, my cloak making painful whipping noises in the snow storm. The bitter wind sliced across the parts of my face that were visible, and I suddenly felt extremely sorry for Tifa, whose outfit was less than suitable for this weather. My legs felt a pang of shock when I landed in the snow, and I heard similar crunches on the ground behind me as Cid, Nanaki, Reno and Rude landed.

"Everyone ready?" Cloud asked us. The wind muffled his voice but through our headsets I could hear him clearly. He sounded fearless as always.

"No, it's fucking cold as hell." Reno griped, and I turned to see him rubbing his arms even though he was wearing a suitable winter jacket.

"I'll take that a yes." Rufus said through the headset, and Reno's whining ceased. Smirking, I took the first steps towards the headquarters, everyone following suit.

Just wait, Yuffie. I'm coming…

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><p><strong>Regular POV<strong>

What had happened to swiftly and secretly? How was it, that even though they had spent hours formulating a plan to get in and out quietly, that the alarms in the headquarters were blaring as if there was a five-alarm hurricane coming?

Vincent flew down the hallway as fast as he could, taking shots at all soldiers he came in contact with.

"Hey you!" a burly soldier yelled after him, raising a strange, glowing blue gun at him. Vincent turned and snarled at the man, lifting Cerberus and taking a single shot at him, watching with satisfaction as he crumpled to the ground.

He stopped running, looking to his left and right, hearing distant thundering of footsteps. Somewhere along the way he had lost his partner, Rude, and was now alone.

"Vincent!" Tseng called through the headset, on Vincent's individual channel. Vincent turned his head sharply to see if anyone was watching.

"What is it?" he asked quietly, raising from his battle stance.

"Do you see a vent slightly north of you in the ceiling?"

He continued running down the hallway until he noticed a vent. "Yes, now what?"

"Hurry - there's a group of four soldier coming at you - jump into the vent."

Vincent swiftly pulled the vent out and jumped inside. Somewhere deep down he thanked Hojo slightly for his enhancements. Vincent smirked as he watched the four soldier run past right where they would have met. He wondered how Avalanche had ever pulled off these kinds of missions without technology from the WRO.

"Nice job, Valentine." Tseng muttered. Although Tseng had been a former enemy, Vincent was glad he was his assigned assistant. He could only imagine if it were Barret helping him from the airship.

"Where is everyone else?" Vincent said quietly over the headset. He rest for a moment in the rather tight ventilation shaft, and he noticed the shaft had many tunnels and turns. He rolled his eyes - the whole team should have just gone through the ventilation system from the beginning.

"Rude met up with Cid and Nanaki, and they're currently heading to meet Cloud, Tifa and Reno. I suggest you do the same." Tseng replied. "They're over a couple hall-"

"I'm fine by myself." Vincent cut in curtly. "They are better in a group so as to fight off the soldiers. But I need to find Yuffie."

Reeve's voice came through. "I was thinking the same thing, Vincent." he said amusedly. "I didn't notice the signature at first, because I thought it was just another solider." he told him offhandedly, somewhat embarrassed of his mistake. "But there's are five heat signatures that haven't moved since the alarms went off in that place, unlike the rest. I can't be sure if it's a scientist or…"

"You think it's Yuffie." Vincent finished for him.

"Yes," came his shaky reply. "Here's what we're going to do. The others are currently occupied in a battle. But you're going to follow my direction down the shafts towards the room where Yuffie might be in. Once the others are done, if Yuffie is indeed in that room, I'm sending them your way. They'll do the fighting to distract the soldiers guarding that room and you'll hop in and get Yuffie. Understood?"

Vincent smirked. "Understood."

Tseng returned to the channel. "Okay Valentine, move west along the shaft."

"And which way is west?" Vincent asked in annoyance.

"Forward."

Following Tseng's instructions, Vincent continued to crawl through the tunnel, looking through each vent he passed. "Stop." Tseng told him sharply. "You're right above the room we've suspected Yuffie to be in."

A number of emotions hit Vincent in his chest, nervousness being the most abundance. He crawled silently over to the opening of the vent, his crimson eyes narrowed to peer through the slim openings.

The vent was towards the back of the room, and he saw four solders, holding the same eerie glowing firearms in their hands, crouched and aimed facing the door. But in the middle - -

Vincent had to stifle the air he sucked in sharply when he saw a female body hung from the ceiling by her wrists, a brown bad over her head, her slim body naked. Bruised tainted the body hanging there, ranging from small, fresh red bruises and dark, black bruises with green rings around them. The slight rise and fall of her chest indicated life, but how much?

It didn't require another look to deduce that the girl hung there was Yuffie. He had never seen her naked before but the small, form fit clothing the ninja always wore didn't leave all that much to the imagination. He retreated from the opening of the vent swiftly, panic spreading through his body.

"It's Yuffie." he confirmed shakily through the comm. "She's naked and bound by her wrists from the ceiling."

"Sending the rest of the team over now. They're not too far from your location - they're going to break the door down and engage the soldier in battle."" Tseng replied instantaneously. "Now, Vincent, listen carefully…"

Vincent swallowed hard, droplets of sweat rolling down his temple.

"When they are done or while they are fighting - this decision is up to you based on your judgement - you are to head out the one door in that room and turn right. Run all the way down and get out of there."

"There's an exit?" Vincent whispered quietly.

"You can make one." Tseng muttered back to him. "From there, you just need to make it about one kilometre north and rendezvous with Barret. He'll have hover boards and you are to fly up to the airship."

"Cloud and the others?"

Tseng scoffed. "I thought you were worried about Yuffie."

"…"

"Heads up. Cloud and the others are arriving."

Vincent hurriedly crawled to the opening of the shaft just as the door began to thump and all the soldiers hoisted their weapons in alarm.

"Tell them the soldiers are all armed and have their guns pointed towards the door." Vincent informed Tseng, hoping to some God that one of his team mates had equipped a barrier materia.

When the door burst open and a hail of bullets came through, Vincent watched as Cloud took in a hail of bullets from the soldiers, never faltering as someone behind Cloud cast a constant Cure2 on him while he took in the first round of bullets. He sighed in relief - the ex-SOLDIER was always prepared.

He watched in a haze as his team mates engaged the Shinground soldiers in battle. One of the soldiers - a smaller, more lean soldier with short brown hair and silver eyes - yelled something incoherent to his allies and retreated behind the shield of Yuffie's body and pulled out a red materia orb.

"Knights of Round!" he shrieked, holding up the red orb as wind began to swirl around him. Avalanche ceased their fighting as did their opponents as they gaped in awe at the familiar summon appearing - but this time, against them. There was barely anything they could do as their opponents engaged them in battle again, with Knights of Round ripping them apart.

Vincent's warrior instinct finally overrode his sneaky, Turk instincts as he ripped the ventilation shaft door off and jumped down from the shaft, landing behind the soldier who had summoned Knights of Round. He raised Cerberus to the back of the soldier point blank, hatred filling his heart. Vincent decided against shooting him point blank and hit him hard with the grip, a strangled cry coming from the soldier and the spell was cut short. The materia was dropped from his hand and Vincent quickly reached out to pocket it.

"Vince!" Tifa yelled out, looking at the gunslinger. She turned her attention quickly back to her opponent as Reno swiped at him with his nightstick. Tifa let out a strangled cry as she somersaulted the soldier, and he finally crumpled to the ground. Tifa fell to one knee in exhaustion, and Reno hurriedly looked in his jacket for a potion, an elixer - anything. "VINCE, TAKE YUFFIE NOW!"

Vincent took a look at the ninja and raised his gun to shoot at the rope hanging her from the ceiling. In a quick shot, the rope was severed and he quickly reached out to catch the falling ninja. Gunshots and grunts and slices of swords filled his ears yet he could not focus on anything except Yuffie as he pulled the bag off of her head.

"Vincent!" Yuffie strangled out, her voice hoarse from all the hours of screaming for help or obscenities at her guards. His heart thumped painfully as he noticed small crescent shaped cuts all over her cheeks. "Yuffie!" he gasped out, reaching out, grabbing her arms, her wrists - everything - as if to make sure she was real, wasn't broken, wasn't a dream. Yuffie's arms wrapped around his broad shoulders, burying herself into his cloak, ashamed to be there, needing rescue, naked and bruised, unable to walk or help herself.

"This reunion is damn near fucking beautiful!" Cid yelled, deflecting a soldier's sword with his spear. "But GET THE FUCK OUT OF HERE!"

Vincent wrapped his arms around Yuffie's back, hoisting her up and half dragging her past the battle and to the door. His crimson eyes flashed dangerously as he turned back before leaving, lifting his gun and aiming at the soldier who had summoned Knights of Round. With a sadistic look on his face, Vincent pulled back the trigger and a bullet flew to the soldier - erupting into flames just as it hit him - a new ability Vincent had recently learned.

Unable to bask in the satisfaction of this man's death, Vincent hoisted Yuffie into his arms and flew down the hallway as Tseng had instructed him. Behind him he heard a man yell "After him!" and Cloud saying, "Stop him!"

"V-Vincent," Yuffie said shakily as he ran.

Vincent looked up at the ninja's face, exhilarated from adrenaline and finally having the princess in his arms, looking into her grey eyes.

"Thank you." she said, holding onto him tighter. He said nothing as he reached a dead end.

Vincent frowned, seeing the concrete wall. "And this is where I make an exit." He set Yuffie down, and quickly unclipped his cloak to placed the heavy article of clothing on Yuffie's shoulders. She snuggled into the thick fabric appreciatively, happy to not be so nude, and leaned against the wall for support.

"Stand back, Yuffie." Vincent commanded, and ushered her behind his back. He held out his arm in front of her, and without warning, a Ice3 spell hit the concrete wall, freezing it, followed by three shots from Cerberus, effectively destroying the wall. The wind and snow instantly howled through the improvised exit.

"VINCENT!" Yuffie shrieked. Vincent didn't look back fast enough to see the silver-eyed soldier behind him. The shot from his gun rung through the hallways as Yuffie screamed, and Vincent fell to the floor, blood flowing from the wound on his chest. "Y-Yuffie-" he gurgled.

The soldier laughed maniacally as he advanced to Yuffie, who moved to Vincent's side, tears running down her face.

**I think this is where I come in, Vincent.**

Vincent closed his eyes and darkness enveloped his body. His bones moved and rearranged themselves into the form of Chaos. Although the wound in his chest still bled, Chaos hovered above the ground proudly, staring sadistically at the silver-eyes soldier. With a blast of energy, the soldier was sent flying to the end of the very long hallway, hitting the end with a sickening crack and thud as he hit the ground. The soldier slowly raised himself, but fell again.

With a smirk of satisfaction, Chaos flew to Yuffie, who was backed against the wall.

"**Don't not fear us.**" came Chaos and Vincent's gargled, combined voice. He reached out his golden claw to Yuffie, looking into the ninja's wide, grey orbs. "**Come, Yuffie. We must go." **

Yuffie carefully looked into Chaos' eyes, and hesitantly placed her petite hand into his claw. Wrapping his arm around her, he hoisted her up and raised himself off the ground, his wings flapping softly.

As they flew through the fury of the snow storm, the blood that flowed from the wound on Chaos' chest smeared all over her naked body. The wind whipped her hair painfully against her face as she struggled to look up at Chaos.

"Your chest.." she said into his ear, the snowfall whistling in her ears.

Chaos ignored her as he continued to fly, and began his descent to the ground and tears blurred his vision and pain enveloped his body. Next to the tallest tree in miles stood Barret, two hover boards propped up against the trunk. Although the hold on her didn't falter, looking at Chaos' face Yuffie noticed he was slowly turning into Vincent Valentine.

"Leviathan - -" Yuffie gasped helplessly as Vincent clung to her. "Vincent!" she screamed as the wings disappeared and Chaos became Vincent once more. With the last bit of strength Vincent had, he rotated his body so he was holding Yuffie above him, and they crashed into the snow.

"Vince! Yuff!" Barret barrelled through the snow towards them, trying to hoist both of them up on his two shoulders. Vincent roughly shoved Barret away, falling into the snow away.

The wind picked up and the snow flew furiously as Vincent struggled to look up at Yuffie and Barret. "Take her… take… Yuffie…" Vincent choked out, coughing out blood. He snow beneath his body began to stain with his blood, spreading further out as more of his blood drained. Barret looked up, and through the snow he noticed three figures flying through the air by unknown means. Panic encased his body as he reached out for the hoverboards he had brought.

"What's going on? Where's Cloud? Who's coming? Are you guys okay?" Barret sputtered through his comm. "Get up, Vince, we needa go!" Barret growled attempting to drag Vincent from the snow with Yuffie on his other arm.

Cloud's voice came through the comm. "We're okay, but after we finished off the soldiers a group of five more came... three guys got away- - we're c-" the static of the storm cut off Cloud's comm, and Barret growled in annoyance.

Yuffie fell from Barret's grip and cradled Vincent's face in her hands. She was horrified to discover it was ice cold, his lips blotched with red and blue. "Vince- Vince-" she gasped out. "Wait, come on, get up, look, Barret brought hover boards-"

Vincent reached up a gloved hand and caressed Yuffie's face, shocking her and causing the tears that had been forming in her eyes to fall. Yuffie and Barret said nothing for a moment until Vincent's arm dropped painfully into the snow.

"Vinnie, get up, please!" Yuffie choked out, grabbing his fallen hand and holding it against her cheek again.

Vincent turned his head to Barret. "Take her, now." he said, locking crimson with Barret's deep, brown eyes. "Now."

"No! VINCENT! We can't leave him there! They're coming! BARRET! BARRET!"

And all the screaming and crying Yuffie let out as she and Barret flew away on hover boards were lost in the storm. She struggled against the grip the larger man had on her, wishing hopelessly he would let her go and she could go tumbling through the sky back to her dark knight. As she lost sight of Vincent, she screamed in more agony than she had experienced in the last two months.

Vincent watched as they disappeared into the sky. His body began to numb without the protection of his cloak - the cloak he had placed on Yuffie's shoulders.

But now, Yuffie was warm.

Vincent continued to bleed on the ground, the snow beneath him stained crimson. He looked up into the sky, wild with snow and wind against a grey sky.

Grey, grey… just like Yuffie's eyes.

And then he felt no longer.

* * *

><p>Ah.. I felt so strange writing that. It feels so not up to snuff because I can't for the life of me write action scenes, and this whole chapter was action! ARGHHHHH… I'm so upset now. Well, read and review pleaaaaaaaase, leave me some love! It's past 3AM right now and I'm too lazy to read over it carefully and edit... I'll do that tomorrow maybe. Yeah. So sorry for any grammatical errors.<p>

-realestboo


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